The concept of mindfulness involves maintaining awareness without engaging in critical judgment. It entails staying present and accepting one’s thoughts and feelings. Mindfulness-based therapies, such as Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), utilize techniques like mindfulness meditation to teach individuals to consciously observe their thoughts and emotions without attaching judgments to them. Several of our therapists are proficient in these modalities.
Integrating mindfulness into therapy alleviates the burden of actively identifying and challenging negative and hypercritical thoughts associated with depression, anxiety, and anger disorders. The incorporation of mindfulness into therapy and various self-help approaches was a logical step, given its innate compatibility with these modalities.
Some of the benefits of learning mindfulness include:
- Increased awareness of thoughts and behaviors that keep you anxious and depressed
- Developing greater tolerance of discomfort
- Less self-criticism and greater self-acceptance
- Improved awareness of behaviors that get you in trouble
- Improved observation skills
- Better understanding of yourself
- Recognition of more choices in how you can respond to challenges
- Reduced stress and anxiety
- Greater control over persistent physical pain
- Relief from depression
- Improved patience and better relationships with others
- Improved ability to calm oneself
Mindfulness, as applied in contemporary therapies, originates from the Zen Buddhist tradition of cultivating thought-free awareness. Jon Kabat-Zinn, a scientist at the University of Massachusetts, played a key role in popularizing mindfulness-based stress reduction techniques for managing anxiety and alleviating pain. Additionally, the introduction of Transcendental Meditation (TM) to America in the 1960s by the Maharishi prompted Herbert Benson, a medical doctor and cardiology professor at Harvard, to develop the relaxation response. This method involved effortless concentration on a mantra, a sound or word, internally during meditation. Benson further structured the TM method by incorporating the repetition of the mantra with each exhalation, which he termed the Relaxation Response (RR). Regular practice of the Relaxation Response, TM, and Mindfulness Meditation has demonstrated benefits such as lowering blood pressure, reducing anxiety, and alleviating various stress-related physical conditions.
Mindfulness-Based Therapy can teach you to:
- Stay present and enjoy the present moment
- Effectively use Guided Imagery for healing and mood improvement
- Effectively use breathing techniques to reduce anxiety and anger
- Identify and change destructive thinking patterns
- Gain more control over your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors
- See things more clearly
- Control pain